Zaō Juhyō (the ‘snow monsters’)

photo by Raita Futo from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0

photo by Raita Futo from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0

The Siberian wind coats the fir trees in ice until they look like white monsters.

The moisture-laden north-westerly wind strikes the aomori-todomatsu (firs) on the ridge, and the supercooled droplets ice over on the branches before freezing: layer upon layer, between December and March, the trees become shapeless white figures several metres tall, the juhyō, or ‘snow monsters’. You see them from the ropeway's summit station, and on some evenings a tracked lighting vehicle (Night Cruiser) passes close by them with a searchlight.

A seasonal weather phenomenon on the ridge of Mount Zaō, reached by the Zaō Ropeway in two sections from the spa town of Zaō Onsen up to Jizō-sanchō Station. It is one of the few places in the world where the phenomenon reaches this size, and one of the most photographed winter attractions in Japan.

ℹ️ The ropeway climbs in two sections to Jizō-sanchō Station; the juhyō season runs from December to March, peaking in February. On some winter evenings the evening illumination (raito-appu) makes the juhyō visible at night too.

🚉 地蔵山頂駅 · in front of the station

Sources: zaoropeway.co.jp · zaoropeway.co.jp

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